sermon

Midweek Lent, 2025 + Love Does No Wrong to a Neighbor +
Week 1: All the vulnerable ones, all, are in your care

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
Texts: Deuteronomy 24:14-15, 17-22; Matthew 25:31-40

Beloved in Christ, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

Remember who you were. That will determine who you are.

That’s how Moses leads us into Jesus’ parable. As God’s people prepare to enter the Promised land after forty years of wandering, Moses tells them never to forget where they came from. To constantly remember being exiles and aliens, fleeing from slavery, being rescued by God.

So when they live in the land and prosper, they will then protect anyone else who are aliens or vulnerable among them. Again and again, including in these words today, they’re told to care for the widows and orphans, the strangers and aliens. For those vulnerable on the fringes, with no room for error.

Because that’s who they were. If they can remember that, they’ll know who they need to be.

Moses’ words now belong to us.

How many of us have ancestors who once struggled this way, unwelcome, or poor, or hungry, or alone?

But it’s not just history. How many of us have struggled, needed help, wanted someone to see us and make a difference? Moses says we can’t be who God desires us to be when we forget we also are people who have needed others’ help in more ways than we can count.

That gives us new insight into Jesus’ story.

Jesus tells a story of people who naturally cared for others in need.

The first group, blessed by the King, didn’t know they were doing anything special or significant. In caring for “the least of these,” they did what was normal for them. When they saw hungry people, they fed them. They welcomed any strangers who showed up. They found clothes and homes for those who lacked. Took care of sick people and prisoners.

This was their nature. Who they were. The second group, whose verses we didn’t read today, also loved their King and wanted to serve. But they didn’t care for those in need. It wasn’t their nature.

That’s the difference. And Moses says the way to have our nature changed to care for all in need is not through guilt. It’s not looking patronizingly at people we should help. It’s simply remembering who we were and who we are. People in need. Moses says that when we see another person in need, we see our own face.

That’s what makes a difference in how we live in these times.

When so many who call themselves Christians seem to delight to exclude everyone on Christ’s “least of these” list, and actively work to harm them, what they reveal is that they don’t see themselves in those people. How could you treat others that way if you knew how often you are in need? How could you be cruel to someone who is just like you?

Our prayer, then, is that the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see ourselves in others. To remember when we were desperate for help, longing for welcome, thirsty for love and grace.

When the Spirit gives us that vision, we are changed. We clothe those who need it because that’s who we are, care for those who are sick because that’s who we are, bring water to the thirsty and food to the hungry and find homes for the homeless because that’s who we are. It’s in our nature now.

Of course there’s another beautiful promise in Jesus’ parable, too.

When our nature is so changed, when we serve all others in need with our lives and voices and hands and wealth and love, we also serve Christ. When we look into the eyes of another we see Christ, too.

And because Christ is those we care for, they will care for us as Christ in return. In God’s plan, when all are transformed in their deepest nature into God’s love, the love returns to itself, back and forth, in and out, love received becoming love given.

This is Christ’s Way. And it is our Way. Who we are. At our heart. In our nature. And entering into the cycle of Christ’s love and healing will bless us and the world in ways only God can know and see now.

In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

Christ’s tests face us every day, and with the Spirit’s help, we will pass through and bring life and hope to this world.

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
The First Sunday in Lent, year C
Texts: Luke 13:31-35 (adding Isaiah 58:1-12 from Ash Wednesday’s lectionary)

Beloved in Christ, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

It’s more accurate to call what Jesus experienced in the desert “testing,” not “temptation.”

During and after the forty days he spent in the wilderness following his baptism, Jesus was challenged to decide what the way of Messiah would be. And the way of a true human being in this world.

But this wasn’t a once-off situation. These tests came back to Jesus repeatedly, including during his anguished prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane before his torture and death. What he chooses here at the start of his ministry he faces again and again.

There’s something else, too. All who wish to follow Christ face these same tests. And they’re also not a once-off deal. Individually, collectively, followers of Christ repeatedly face these tests.

The smart play, then, is to cheat off of Jesus’ answer sheet. Learn from his testing how you’ll face yours. How we’ll face ours. And what’s at stake is literally the life of the world.

Here are the three tests.

First, how will you help a world struggling with hunger, poverty, want? It’s not just Jesus considering making a sandwich out of rocks. The question is will the inequality, waste of abundant resources, the split between the few who hoard and the many who suffer, be miraculously fixed? Jesus, with divine power, could instantly make it possible for everyone to have enough food, shelter, clothing, health care. He chooses not to. There’s another way.

Second, how can you get people to obey God and do God’s will? Will you bow to the demonic powers that control and dominate to get what they want? Jesus could use his power to control the whole world, force people into whatever he felt needed to be done. He chooses not to. There’s another way.

And third, do you need God to prove you’ll be safe and protected before you act? Will you sit still and do nothing until you know you can’t be harmed, until you’re assured you’ll have to sacrifice nothing? This is particularly critical for Jesus in Gethsemane, where he could have resisted the cross, but chooses not to. There’s another way.

We face the same question of turning stones into bread, every day.

As we see catastrophic escalation of serious societal problems we’ve already been working on for years, what do we do? Sit back and pray that God take care of all this, miraculously rescue immigrants from deportation, create job opportunities, directly provide food and housing to those who lack? Change stones to bread?

We began this Lenten journey Wednesday with words from Isaiah 58, words worth pondering every day of this season and our lives. And for this test, the prophet is clear. God’s not interested in our prayer and fasting that puts it all on God to do. Isaiah says God needs us to act ourselves to heal what needs healing.

“This is the fast that I want from you,” God says in Isaiah, “that you loose the bonds of injustice, break every yoke. Share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house.” That’s God’s answer to the need for bread: you and I are to take care of this. The way of Messiah invites all people into the abundance of God’s gifts so they’ll share that abundance until all are safe, healthy, fed, sheltered, clothed. That’s how all will be healed.

The second test is far more dangerous to fail.

How do you make this a world in harmony with God? Ever since Constantine the Church has far too often chosen the way of power and domination. And so we’ve led wars and holocausts and inquisitions and heretic burnings, all in the name of God. The Christian right these days is just another manifestation of Christians failing this second test and joining with the demonic powers in the world.

There’s a huge need for God’s way of love and justice, and peace for all, to flourish in these days. We’re seeing the beginning of what’s already a horror show that likely will be a global disaster devastating many, especially the most vulnerable.

But God says through Isaiah,“you will be the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.” The answer to this test, as Jesus knew, isn’t to control, be in charge, use power to do what we want. Far too much evil and wickedness happens when Christians do that. The answer is to live as a vibrant minority, like yeast in flour Jesus says, working as hard as we can to make a difference wherever we can. Rebuilding ruins, raising up foundations, as Isaiah says. Even while others are knocking them down. To live as Christ’s love in all we do and trust that even if no one else does, we’re doing what God needs us to do.

The third test preys on our despair and fear.

Christ’s way might cost us. Stretch us in ways we’re not comfortable, ask us to give up and let go of things we’re not ready to get rid of. We’re tempted to sit tight and do nothing, hoping the worst of what’s happening won’t come to our door and haul us out.

But Christ says what happens to our neighbor happens to us. Even if we’re not fired or deported or arrested or vilified or persecuted, if any of God’s children are suffering, we’re suffering. This has been the Christian way from the beginning. Tomorrow, March 10, the church commemorates Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman, both of whom stepped out into the unknown and risked their lives for the sake of God’s children. Friday was the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, where the peaceful civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery was stopped with brutality on the Edmund Pettis bridge.

The answer to the fear in this test is learning to trust God is with us and will strengthen and bless us in this work, in this caring, in this restoring, in this resistance. There’s no guarantee it won’t cost, or hurt. In fact, it probably will, Jesus always says. But this is the Way. This is who we are. We step forward and act, even if we don’t know what’s going to happen.

It’s not really cheating to crib off of Jesus’ answers.

In fact, the evangelists wrote this down for that very reason. To give you and me hope that there is a way forward. The only way God wants to see, because when people are changed, the healing of the world actually can survive and spread and grow.

But keep your eyes open. Hold each other’s hands. These tests will keep coming. They’ll change their looks, appear like something else to trick you. You’ll face these constantly, with God’s healing at stake.

But be of good courage. God is with you, the Spirit is changing you and giving you strength and hope. Together, we’ll face these tests and keep seeking the life of God for all. And as Isaiah says, when we’re doing this together, our light will break forth like the dawn and healing will spring up quickly. We’ll be like a watered garden, Isaiah says, offering God’s abundant love for the life of all things, even if sometimes all we see around us is desert.

In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

You are being transfigured into Christ for the world, even if now you feel a failure or even feel resistance to God’s call. And all will be healed because of it.

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
The Transfiguration of Our Lord, year C

Text: Luke 9:28-43a

Beloved in Christ, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Take your eyes off of Jesus shining like lightning.

Just for a few minutes. This is the feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord, so you’d think we should focus on that scene, ask questions about what’s going on, dwell on it.

But maybe instead of trying to put up a couple tents so we can sit and gaze at God’s glory shining from Jesus we might better consider the transfiguration of the disciples.

Because the comments I heard after last week’s sermon suggest that’s the part of the Gospel we need most.

Last week was hard. Heavy. Jesus put an assignment on you and me that for many seemed too much. “I’m not there yet,” many said afterward, Not ready to live Jesus’ commands: love your enemies. Do good to those who hate. Bless those who curse. Pray for those who mistreat.

It isn’t that you’re not willing to work against the cruelty and evil that keeps pouring out of our leaders, with more and more danger and threatening situations week after week. It’s the commands to love, do good, pray, and bless those who are doing it.

Whether it’s you or others that are the target of evil and cruelty, these are hard commands to swallow. How are you supposed to get hate out of your heart when people do such things? How can you not be angry?

In short, you’re not yet where Jesus commands you to be.

That’s why you need the disciples today.

If anyone is obviously not where Jesus hopes, it’s these disciples. A week before this event, Jesus, Peter’s beloved Teacher, called him Satan for rebuking Jesus. Peter didn’t like him saying the path of the Messiah, the path of Christ, was leading to suffering and a cross and death. Jesus said Peter was a Satan, an opponent of God’s way.

How Peter didn’t abandon following is a mystery to me. But if he’s anything like us, all week he’d at least have hidden on the outer edges of the seventy or so women and men following Jesus, hoping not to be noticed. Then today he botches it again, babbling about making tents. Luke charitably says, “he didn’t know what he was talking about.”

Peter’s so not ready to lead, so not ready to follow Christ’s path.

And at the bottom of the hill, it’s not going well either. At the beginning of this chapter in Luke, Jesus sent out the twelve leaders, giving them power to cure diseases, cast out demons, and proclaim the reign of God. They apparently had success. But now, those remaining at the bottom of the hill can’t do anything. No one can heal this possessed, epileptic boy with his destructive seizures. One by one they fail, one by one their despair deepens. Instead of having a successful healing to show Jesus on his return, they leave him a mess that clearly irritates him.

They’re so not ready to be Christ, so not ready for this work.

But how does Jesus handle these struggling followers?

Yes, he called Peter Satan, and probably sent Peter into a tailspin of doubt and anxiety and grief. But today, a week after that, when Jesus needs his leaders at his side, he taps Peter on the shoulder to join James and John. The three key leaders, as usual. You can’t overstate the grace and love of that choice or the relief and joy Peter must have felt.

Yes, Peter’s stumbling, his heart isn’t ready to consider a path of self-giving love, or sacrifice. He’s making big mistakes and will make more. But Jesus says, “I still need you on the path with me.” Jesus consistently keeps him in the fold, patiently waits for him to grow, learn, catch up. And one day Peter will be so joined to this path he’ll be killed for the love of God in Christ he embodied and proclaimed.

And the same is true of all the others. Jesus doesn’t berate them for fumbling the healing. All of them are still enfolded in his welcome and embrace. And in the next chapter he sends them out again, this time seventy of them, for more healing and casting out demons and proclaiming.

Jesus understands this call to follow, this path of Christ is hard. And he understands that changing your heart will take time. He’s constantly ready to forgive failures, hold out a hand to get you back on your feet, and send you out again.

If you’re not fully ready to love enemies, do good to haters, bless cursers, pray for abusers, Jesus gets that. He’s got patience and love enough to know you need to learn and grow on this path.

Martin Luther understood this beautifully.

He said, “This life is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness, not health but healing, not being but becoming. This is not the end, but it is the road.”[1]

That’s it. That’s all you need to know. It’s not if you’re ready and able to do all Jesus asks. Whether it’s standing against evil or offering love to those who do it, Christ’s path is all about becoming.

We’re not where we will be. You are not where you will be. But as long as you want to be on the right road, Christ’s road, that’s enough. And you’ll know you’re there when you commit to loving, doing good, blessing, praying for all, even those your heart says don’t deserve it.

The Triune God spoke on that hilltop to all who follow Jesus the Christ, saying:

“This is my Son, my Beloved, my Chosen: listen to him!” Listen to the words of life Christ speaks, the path that leads to hope and healing for all people.

Listen, and then act, as Jesus urged last week. That’s how your heart will be changed. Act as Christ. Act in love. Act as best you can even if inside you’re feeling unready. Because your neighbors desperately need you. They need me. God’s threatened and hurting children need all of us to step forward on this path, ready or not.

This is your transfiguration, that more and more you become changed into the love of God in this world. And as you go, even the first steps of love you make for others are already healing and life.

In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

[1] Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, vol. 32, The Career of the Reformer II, p. 24. “Defense and Explanation of All the Articles,” a response in March 1521, to Exsurge Domine, the papal bull of condemnation of his writings issued by Pope Leo X in July, 1520. This is from a translation by William Lazareth, not the Charles M. Jacobs translation in Luther’s Works.

The foundation of a life that can not only endure wickedness but transform it is a life built on the love Christ calls of you, the same love that already holds you forever.

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
The Seventh Sunday after Epiphany, Lect. 7 C
Texts: Luke 6:27-38 (adding 39-49 from Lect. 8 C); Psalm 37:1-11, 39-40

Beloved in Christ, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

“Do not be provoked by evildoers,” we sang today in the psalm.

And then we sang, “leave rage alone; it leads only to evil.” Because, Psalm 37 says, “in a little while the wicked shall be no more, but the lowly shall possess the land and delight in abundance of peace. God will rescue them.”

Really? That’s what we’re told today? Every time the Bible says those who do evil will be dealt with by God, we wonder: When does that ever happen? Most seem to get away with it. And we’re not supposed to get angry at that?

And Jesus isn’t helpful today, saying, “The Most High is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.”

When so much wickedness is happening around us, so many are being hurt, not just here now but around the world due to our rulers in Washington, how can we not be provoked and angry? And wish that those who are doing all these things would get what we think they deserve?

But instead of answering that, Jesus looks right at us and asks, “why are you so concerned about the sin of other people?”

In these familiar words about ignoring the log in our own eye while obsessing over the speck in our neighbor’s eye, Jesus says, “check yourself first and clean that up.” Never mind if we don’t think what we do compares to rounding up thousands of good people and sending them to detention camps, or randomly firing thousands upon thousands, leaving them in unemployment and despair. Or targeting those who are different from whatever ridiculous norm those in charge think is the only way for a human to be. Or risking the lives of children and the weak by acting against hard earned scientific and medical wisdom.

Surely we’re not that bad, are we, Jesus?

But Jesus doesn’t seem interested in having us compare sins. If you wish to follow me, he says, pay attention to your walk, your life. Are you being Christ in your love and in your life? You can’t control what others do. You can do something about how you live faithfully, he says.

But the path Christ shows today isn’t just hard. In these times it could also make you angry.

Love your enemies, Jesus says today. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you. Give to anyone who asks of you. And that love and blessing and good also applies to any who hurt others.

This is as frustrating as those other words we began with. Not only must we forget about hoping God’s going to pay back people for evil they do, and remember that God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked, now we have to actually love them? Pray for them? Do good to them? Give them whatever they want? Living these words isn’t just hard. It feels wrong. It feels like acquiescing to wickedness and evil and letting it win. Letting vulnerable people be destroyed.

So this is your great challenge to your trust in Christ and following as a disciple. You know you’re fully loved by God forever and always in this life and in a life to come. Nothing can stop that love.

Trusting God’s love enough to walk this path that seems counter to everything that makes sense? Little wonder that at times in his ministry disciples just walked away from Jesus, saying “this is too hard.”

But what if Christ knows something you don’t?

What if changing your heart to love enemies and pray for the wicked can transform you into God’s very heart in this world? Wouldn’t that be something? And if one by one, person by person, the Spirit transformed hearts this way, Christ’s way, to walk this hard path, can you not see how that would change the world for good?

We can hardly argue that our usual human way of dealing with evil – power, retaliation, hatred, violence – has created a better world. Why not try Christ’s way? Look for the logs in our own eyes that lead us to anger and despair and hatred and ask the Spirit to help us forgive and love and pray for all, even the ungrateful and the wicked?

Those disciples who left Jesus because following was too hard were pretty honest.

But they missed the whole point of Jesus’ coming. In coming as one of us the Triune God means to draw us all into God’s way of seeing, acting, loving, so the world can be healed. If Christ’s path is hard it’s only because it’s so counter to the way we’re used to behave and see. But it’s the only way to life and hope. Look at history, at people of faith who have walked this path. You’ll see wonder and joy appear like flowers in the desert. You’ll see healing in the midst of suffering, hope in the midst of despair.

And Christ promises today that if you build your life on this foundation of love, with all of this community around you also putting down their roots to this bedrock, all the while praying that the Holy Spirit change your heart and thereby change your life and thereby change your behavior and thereby change the world, you will see there is no storm, no challenge, no fire, no flood, no drought, no evil, no wickedness that can knock down you or anyone else so built on Christ.

And know this: following Christ’s path this way is absolutely not acquiescing to the wickedness and saying “do what you will.” The call on Christ’s path is still and always to care for those who are hungry and thirsty, those without clothes or homes, those sick and imprisoned, because they are Christ.

We pray for those who do wickedness and love them, while working as hard as we can to undo their wickedness by our love and care for those who are hurt. We ask God’s blessing on those who mock and curse and threaten others, while working as hard as we can to bring healing and hope to all who are so abused.

And as we and millions more are so grounded and changed, God’s healing can finally reach everywhere.

In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

 

We share God’s vision of our neighbors and our world in this community and are strengthened for our work as Christ by each other.

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
The Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, Lect. 6 C
Texts: Luke 6:17-26

Beloved in Christ, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

I speak in defense of bubbles.

The conventional view of our polarized country is that people live in their own bubbles. They hear one point of view, gather with people sharing that view, and treat anyone who sees differently with disdain and often hatred. Left or right, people name and decry this reality of our modern world.

For good reason. If you put on blinders and ignore or hate anyone who differs from you, you’ll have a warped world view. Everyone needs to understand other points of view, find common ground, test their news sources and influences for bias and for factual truth, or we’re in trouble.

And yet it is a tremendous blessing to be in this community of faith, who hears Jesus’ words every week, and so sees the world and people as God does. Clearly some people, even some bearing Christ’s name, are willing to crush and destroy vulnerable people, whether LGBTQ or immigrant or poor or different in any way, for their own power and their own gain. So to be with a community who instead sees the face of God in every child, every person, who sees even strangers as neighbors worthy of love, is a huge relief when trying to navigate this frightening and broken and hateful world.

Clearly God’s Son today says the Triune God’s way of seeing is radically different from the common way of the world.

To God, those who are poor are blessed, because they’re in the heart of God’s reign, where we try to share all we have so none go without. Those who are rich are warned that wealth is not a sign of God’s approval and separates them from God’s family, leaving them without consolation. The world says that’s nonsense. Jesus says, well, that’s how God sees things.

To God, those who are hungry are blessed because in God’s reign food is shared and all are filled. And those who fill themselves up and trample others to get more are warned this is the path to a hunger no wealth or power can ever fill. The world says that’s nonsense. Jesus says, well, that’s how God sees things.

To God, those who weep are blessed because in God’s reign they find people who hold them, love them, share their tears. They find hope and home. And those who won’t feel the pain of another person, who laugh while people are caged or marginalized, are warned they’re isolating themselves into a life that leads only to grief. The world says that’s nonsense. Jesus says, well, that’s how God sees things.

The Triune God sees dramatically opposite to the way the world does. God values weakness, not strength, love, not power, and dies to create life. But we live in the world, so it’s sometimes hard to remember this. We’re tempted to side with those in power, or to secure our wealth, and ignore the pain of others as we scrabble for our own security.

And that’s where our community is a blessing.

Here we see God’s way together, and help each other live and act in it. Here, where love of God and love of neighbor are our highest ethical values, we can’t separate our trust in God’s love from our care for all people. So if I struggle to see as God sees, you all model and witness to me that way of seeing. And I remember. When you struggle to live as Christ, with the sacrifices that path asks, people here model and witness to you a life-giving way of being for all God’s children. And you’re encouraged.

We’re not in a bubble here to ignore other points of view and claim we’re right and others are wrong. We’re in this together to remember God’s way together. To remember and share God’s point of view.

And when we despair to see people treating others as garbage, risking others for their own needs, threatening vulnerable people and seeing them as nothing, we come together as a community and rejoice that we’re with people who do see the face of God in every person. Who trust that caring for the hungry, thirsty, and naked ones, the strangers, the sick, the imprisoned ones, is caring for Christ. When we think that the world’s gone mad, here we’re reassured there are still many who seek love and justice for all.

And this isn’t a question of picking political sides.

Christians of both parties and no parties have often found ways to agree on what’s important, if sometimes not on the policies to fix it. For example, we’ve agreed God cares for those who are hungry, therefore we must. Different political parties had different ways of addressing that, but sometimes even found compromise and common ground for the good of all.

But our current leaders, elected by a majority of those who chose to vote, are in it only for themselves, and disregard not only common decency but the very rule of law that holds our nation together. They argue for keeping politics out of church, and out of sermons in the National Cathedral, while putting their view of church into politics, reshaping the government. We can’t pretend this is business as usual.

But maybe this is a time that finally shows us the importance of living as a Christian.

Maybe now we find out what Jesus means. Many of us have lived privileged lives without facing adversity for practicing our faith. Choosing to act as Christ or not without many real consequences. Jesus’ warnings of rejection and being hated for following used to feel as if they didn’t apply to us. Not anymore.

Bishop Budde’s sermon was something you’d hear at Mount Olive and any number of our sibling congregations any time. She took Jesus’ call to love others seriously, as we do. She spoke of the joy of God’s diversity and finding unity in welcoming all. And the really offensive part apparently was simply asking the president to show mercy, to listen to all who were afraid and vulnerable. All values we share in this community.

Now, maybe, these values put us up against the wall. We have a chance to stand up for those being hurt, we’re called to risk so that the vulnerable are protected, and we might actually face adversity for being a Christian for the first time in our lives. That’s good. It feels good to face a Christian life Jesus actually envisioned, where we’re not in power and not controlling but a minority caring for those God sees as important and most in need. Those this community sees as important and most in need.

You are God’s beloved community.

And I thank God for you. For sharing God’s vision of the world together. For the witness you make in your daily lives to God’s love for all, the risks you’re taking to be Christ’s love. For the urgency so many here have to find the Christly path for Mount Olive in all this.

You are not alone because you have this community. We are not alone because there are thousands of communities of all faiths who share God’s love for all and want to risk being that love for all. And if someone hates us for this, reviles us, well, now we’re really having a good time. Because finally we’re acting enough like Christ to rile up the world.

In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen